Simplify Your Cleaning Supplies: The Six Essentials That Clean My Whole House!
Cleaning supplies can really pile up! They get crammed in a closet, under the sink or on a shelf. It finally dawned on me that the ones I hardly employ were eating up valuable space, so I decided to get down to the essentials.
Although I keep a few supporting characters for some extracurricular cleaning (I will write about those in the future), I can really tackle my whole house with just six simple staples!
Here are my six essentials for all my basic housekeeping:
Vinegar & Water
If it were possible to love a cleaning supply, this is the one I’d love! The biggest reason is that I use it for a whole slew of tasks. I don’t even measure it out, but I mix about 1 part vinegar to 3 or 4 parts water in a squirt bottle and go to town! I use it to purify my bathrooms; the toilet, sink, and shower. I also utilize this mixture to clean all my windows and mirrors, to polish my non-wood surfaces, and to brighten my light fixtures—what a cheap way to clean my house!
Additionally, I’m kind of weird when it comes to chemicals, so I feel good about cleaning so much of my house with vinegar and water. I do use some chemicals, but using vinegar and water really reduces my need for them.
2. Furniture Polish for Wood Surfaces
I don’t want to put water on my wood surfaces, so I apply some furniture polish to my bedside tables, my dining table, and a couple of other surfaces.
3. Stainless-Steel Cleaner
I really like how stainless-steel cleaner makes my stainless appliances and trash cans shine. I have tried dish soap and my vinegar-water mixture on those surfaces, but they tend to leave streaks and don’t give the great luster that I get from the stainless-steel cleaner.
4. Dish Soap
I don’t know if dish soap is usually considered a household cleaning supply, besides for washing dishes, but it made my list because it’s the only thing I use to wash my kitchen counters and cooktop. Additionally, it’s the product I go to daily to wipe down my kitchen sink.
5. Toilet Wand
I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am that I started using a toilet wand with the disposable little sponge doodads! I remember years ago hating the toilet brush routine and going on a search for a toilet cleaner that didn’t disgust me. I eventually found it! I scrub each toilet with a separate little sponge, dispose of them, and cleanse the toilet wand with a disinfectant wipe. I don’t know how to put a giant exclamation point on this except to say, this is the best toilet cleaner on the market in my opinion! I don’t dread scrubbing the toilet anymore, and I’m never grossed out in the process!
4. Vacuum Cleaner
Besides occasionally steam-cleaning my floors, the only tool I enlist is a vacuum. I don’t even own a broom except for a little whisk broom that I recently purchased when I shattered a glass on my kitchen floor.
My lightweight cordless vacuum does a great job on all my non-carpeted floors and is so light that it is easy to go around baseboards, trim, and ceilings with its attachment. Plus, it takes up so little space. I also have a cheap, upright vacuum that I use on my rugs. My cordless doesn’t do a great job on rugs and carpet.
And those are the six essential supplies that clean my whole house! Clearing out all the extras not only freed up valuable space but also simplified my cleaning process.
I hope this list will do the same for you! Let me know which of these was the most helpful!
